Wonderful fact about the Direct Connect protocol: You can spoof how much you're sharing, and duplicate files are still counted in the total-content-on-this-hub thing.

In other words, I think it's highly likely some real moron informant got on the hub, checked out the total file stats (reported by the hub as an aggregate of voluntarily reported and unaudited member stats), and one or more people were running a client modified to overstate their share size by a ludicrous amount.

As for the 'had to promise' bit, it sounds like someone simply set a minimum-share requirement on the server, booting clients that were leechers (at least the obvious ones).

In the end I'm pretty sure one or more people completely bungled in understanding the real dynamics and technical aspect of these figures. (I mean, gawd, 40 petabytes minimum on EACH server? I know someone who ran a server in his dorm room and it couldn't reliably handle more than 300 active member connections).

Not to mention that DC servers, as always, are merely indexing and searching hubs. Not storage.

nationwide file-trading network.
My god, that's so amazing! I mean, most people don't trade files over distances of more than a few miles due to the lack of carrier pigeons!